US Open Champion
by themistrollsin
Summary: Kelly's playing in the finals of the US Open. AU


A friend and I are doing a 30 fics in 30 days challenge, all of which will be AU. This is my Day One. :)

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Kelly waits for the announcement for her to go out onto court. This is the biggest match of her life and the one person she wants to be sitting in her box isn't there. She frowns at the thought. How is she supposed to focus on the match when Teddy isn't here? She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. _Don't think about it, Kelly._

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Kelly Blank."

Kelly walks out of the door and smiles at the sound of the crowd cheering for her. She's lucky to be here. According to so many out there, she wasn't supposed to make it this far. But here she, in the finals of the US Open; her home open. She knew she had it in her to make it here. She sets her bags down and glances over to her box, smiling sadly when she doesn't see Teddy. She'd known he wouldn't be here, but actually seeing what would be his seat empty makes it all too real.

She struggles through the first set; losing quicker that she wants to admit. As she takes her seat, she looks over at her box once again. This time there's something… no, someone different. Her stomach flips at the sight of him. Teddy is here. She watches as he lifts his sunglasses up and smiles when the make eye contact. He nods at her, letting her know that she can do this. Kelly returns the nods as she grabs her water bottle.

"You got this," she whispers.

Kelly jogs back onto the court when time is announced. She bounces in place as she accepts the tennis balls from the ball girl. She walks up to the line and looks across the net at Maria. If Kelly can get a quick start to the second set, she knows she has a chance. She does just that, getting the first game fairly easily.

A short time later, she watches Maria's lob go long, giving Kelly the second set. "Come on," she screams.

"Second set, Blank," the chair umpire announces.

Kelly jogs over to her chair and takes a seat. She bounces her legs to keep herself loose. She can feel it; this is her time. She can finally see the finish line. Still, she doesn't want to get too far ahead of herself. There's still the third set to play. She takes a drink of her water, continuing to mentally prepare herself for the third set.

As Kelly watches Maria hit the ball into the net, she drops her racquet and falls to her knees. That was it. That was the match. She covers her mouth as she looks over at her box. The first person she sees is Teddy standing, cheering for her. Kelly stands up once again and jogs up to meet Maria. After shaking the chair umpire's hand, Kelly jogs over to climb up to her box. She claps hands with fans as she makes her way through. The moment she makes it to her box, she jumps into Teddy's arms.

"I'm so proud of you, Princess," he says before kissing the side her neck. "So proud."

"I can't believe you're here," she mumbles.

"I wanted to surprise you." He pulls back enough to look at her. "You did amazing out there. I'm so proud of you."

Kelly kisses him. "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too." He kisses her again. "Go on."

Kelly steps up to the microphone, still unsure of what she's going to say. "Wow," she starts out. "This is… something else. First I want to congratulate Maria for an amazing tournament and match." She stops and claps along with the fans. "You know, I've had so many people tell me that I would never get anywhere in this sport. But here I am. I want to say thank you to my box. If it weren't for all of you, I wouldn't be standing here. My coach, Joe, thank you for putting up with me all these years." She goes on thanking everyone else in her box, but stops when the only one left is Teddy. She smiles as she meets his gaze. "Teddy, I know we've been through a lot together. But I couldn't have done this without your support. Thank you for always being here for me. This one's for you, Baby." She blows him a kiss before stepping back.

After she goes through all the requirements, Kelly is finally able to shower and leave. She smiles widely when she sees Teddy waiting for her. She drops her bags and jumps into his arms. He holds her tight as he lifts her off the ground.

"You did it," he says. He kisses the side of her head.

"Thank you for being here." She turns her head to let him kiss her. "I love you."

"Love you."

 **The End**


End file.
